SNOW SNARL
One of city’s biggest storms for November wreaks havoc by knocking out power, stranding air travelers and affecting morning commute
One of Chicago’s biggest-ever November snowstorms knocked out power to tens of thousands, stranded thousands of travelers, gave lots of students a day off from school and snarled the morning commute, whether you were driving or taking public transit.
Chicago Public Schools, however, remained open — though about 20 schools had no heat, a development slammed by the Chicago Teachers Union.
As of Monday evening, about 131,000 ComEd customers remained without power due to the storm — which dumped more than a foot in parts of McHenry County and more than half of that in Cook County, according to the National Weather Service.
At its peak, the storm had affected more than 363,000 customers, according to the utility. A spokesman said 250 out-of-state employees had come in from the East Coast to supplement the 800 crews out restoring service.
At O’Hare Airport, 8.4 inches of snow fell from Sunday to Monday, making it the fifth-largest November snowfall in Chicago’s history.
The surprise snowfall even factored into the race for Chicago mayor, as candidates were filing their ballot petitions on Monday, the last day they could do so.
A few candidates filing earlier Monday were asked about “dibs” — the Chicago tradition of using folding chairs or other random items to “save” a parking spot after shoveling it out. Most supported it — especially Gery Chico, who said he has done it himself. Bill Daley said he wouldn’t ban the practice and Dorothy Brown was OK with it (once a reporter explained what it was).
Only Garry McCarthy gave it a thumbs-down: “Anything that causes conflict, I think, is a bad idea.”
Though many suburban districts closed for the day, CPS stayed open, after salting and plowing school grounds through the night, and sending some staff in early to check on any weather-related issues.
About 20 CPS schools suffered some degree of power loss, though all but one — Shields Elementary, 4250 S. Rockwell St., were able to stay open. Shields students were moved to Shields Middle School, about five blocks south.
“Thanks to strong weekend planning and collaboration with the City of Chicago and ComEd, the vast majority of schools opened today without issue,” a CPS spokesman said in an emailed statement.
The teachers union fired back, saying the district “is not fit to oversee a dog park,” adding: “Their neglect of neighborhood public schools is chronic and unconscionable.”
JC Licht True Value Hardware in the West Loop had just one snowblower left; it had sold three (a store record) earlier that day, said employee Karina Hunter.
All that snow made it look a lot like Christmas, but it didn’t help business at City Tree Delivery.
“We had to cut deliveries in half. It’s a huge burden on our operation and a significant amount of work,” said owner Chris Hohenstein. Besides making deliveries harder, the snow interrupts their supply lines from Michigan and Wisconsin.
The storm beat out the city’s previous fifth-largest November snowfall, which was recorded at 6.4 inches from Nov. 26-27 in 1940.
The north and northwest suburbs were hit even harder, with 9 inches reported in Lindenhurst and 8.3 inches in Des Plaines, according to the weather service. Woodstock reported 11.5 inches of snow by 5:35 a.m. Monday.
As of late afternoon, 1,254 flights were canceled at O’Hare with delays averaging 79 minutes, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. Midway Airport was reporting 71 cancellations with delays averaging less than 15 minutes.